Rescuers Find Rafting Victims in Batu City, Two Dead

Batu City, E Java (Antara) - A rescue team has found two victims who died in a rafting accident caused by strong waves in Brantas River, Batu City, East Java Province. "We recovered the two casualties, namely Ilham and Kiki. The officers have not yet identified the victims," the rescue officer, Anggara, said here on Saturday. Anggara said rescue team members were matching the names of the victims to the bodies, based upon the clothes they wore in a photo taken before they began rafting on Brantas River. He said the rescue team found the bodies of the victims in two different areas, saying Kiki was found in Depok area and Ilham in Sengguruh area. Anggara added that rescuers are still searching by boat for another victim, identified as Lia. The officers are also monitoring two posts in Pendem and Sengguruh. "Our last post is in Sengguruh area. It will be very difficult to search for the victims beyond Sengguruh, as the river will flow directly to Surabaya city," Anggara said. At least four people were reported to have been lost after a rafting accident occurred on Friday evening (Feb 28). The first casualty, Nurul Komar, was found alive in Pendem Village and has been evacuated to Hasta Brata Hospital. The officer identified Nurul's as living on Fatmawati Street, South Jakarta. The Chief of Batu Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sasmito, said the search for the victims was stopped temporarily on Friday and began again on Saturday at 06:00 AM. Sasmito said the accident occurred when 18 people began rafting down the Brantas River from Torongrejo Village of Batu City. One of the boats was reported to have overturned when reaching a rest area due to strong waves. Officer said the waves were high due to rains in the headwaters area. There were five people aboard the overturned boat, and one of them, reported as Rani Efendi, is alive. Rani suffered bruises on her arms, legs and face. She has been hospitalized and is receiving medical treatment. (*)